Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Confessions of a Peeved Reader

I have a confession to make.

As a reader, there was one type of scene I always skimmed. Most romances, especially the historicals, would have this kind of scene and without fail, I'd skip it. I remember it being a pet peeve of mine.

I skim long passages of description... and I'll go back later and read them if it feels like I've missed something important. I do it with excessive back story too... not so good for my critique buddies, as I have to try really hard to slow down and read every word... LOL!

I don't care for grocery list like narrative. Then, next, finally. I also dislike cheesy lines, but I will giggle at them. I'm glad one of my critters can find them, because I'm guilty of writing some and not realizing it until a re-read.

LOL Anita! They don't though, as you're starting to realize. Stores are closing and online venues are becoming a stronger and stronger way to market yourself. :-) You'll do great, no matter what, because you're an awesome writer!

I skim it too! Thankfully, it is usually the epilogue. We all know the characters will marry; we all know it will be pages of details of the dress, flowers, church/outside, and ONLY at the END do we get a bit of cute dialogue and sweet kiss. Skipable! :) (No offense anyone).

Too much description. I like description, but sometimes it is overdone. I also have a hard time reading about male characters that aren't manly. I like the rough and tumble guys. If the hero I'm reading about is too sensitve etc. I just get turned off:)

If too much detail...I skim. I do love the spoken words of devotion between the couple. Sometimes a few, right-placed, tender, heartfelt words can say so much more of their passion than action. That's good writing.

how about writing the wedding scene, ugh, I have one I have to write because it's a marriage of convenience story--so it does have conflict, but I've yet to make any critter happy and I've rewrote it 3 times already, maybe I'll look to make it shorter since that's your deal here, it's another thing to try anyway!

I skip descritptions if more than one line, people tell me that historical readers want the description to be transported to another world and I have to write in more setting. I'm a historical reader and I say--get on with the dialog and action please!

Mary, I get tired of hunkiness too. I mean, yes, I want him hot but hotness comes in all sorts of ways, not necessarily handsomeness. That said, I confess to loving the dark and broody hero. ;-) Def. a stereotype there but I find it irresistible.

Melissa, I'll bet you'll do a great job. If you think your wedding scene is necessary, just put lots of juicy conflict in it, maybe a hook of some sort, and that should spice it up. Good luck!

Hi Jessica, thank you for commenting on my blog today! Interesting question you ask - my confession as a reader? I often skip those passages that try to describe the backstory and wish that I could just gently discover what's happened before without the tedium of reading it. As a writer, I strive to avoid this habit. I also dislike wedding scenes - not only in books but on TV too - as you say normally drawn out and unexciting.Hope to see you next Wednesday!

Definitely long, boring description and introspection. However, in one popular book, the author decided to show us the main characters were bored (instead of just telling us this). And it went on and on, so that in the end, the reader was as bored as the characters.

I'm guilty of doing it myself, but mine is long internal monologues. I inevitably skim and skip. Now when I edit I ask myself what the important nugget is in my long internalizations, then I chop, chop, all around the nugget until it's nice and concise (well, concise to my standards, anyway).

My heart is filled with romantic stories, my shelves are loaded with chocolate and I'm always longing for one more cup of Starbucks. Besides that, I write for Love Inspired Historical and am a happy mom to a bunch of little boys. I post on Wednesdays and love connecting with readers and writers.